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problem, at least for a time, was to
forbid any Christian to keep the
holiday.
That was a futile gesture at best.
lt became obvious all too soon that
things had progressed too far - the
ban was too little, too late. The next
logical step, at least in the eyes of
the more practica! church leaders,
was to somehow transform the pa–
gan Satumalia into a vehicle for the
furthering of the Christian ideal.
The church fathers sought to point
the festival toward the Christian
Sun of Righteousness, rather than
the rebirth of the physical sun on
ban the more riotous celebrations,
as did severa! succeeding popes,. but
the festivals continued unabated in
popularity - and, of course, spread
throughout newly Christianized Eu–
rope.
Medieval Christmas
During the fifteenth century, the
holly, ivy and evergreens went up
every Christmas, the torches were
lit, and strange masked dancers
called
mummers
clowned in the
streets. The Europeans exchanged
gifts, as had their Roman predeces–
sors, tbis time in the name of Christ,
which have not stemmed directly
from the Romans, but have over the
centuries evolved from other prac–
tices - equally pagan - in other
societies.
Odin and
Jolly
Old
St.
Nick
Wednesday, the fourth day of the
week, is named after the Germanic
god Woden, or Odin. Odin was a
popular, one-eyed personality first
touted as a rampaging god of the
warriors. Although time mellowed
his reputation, he never really gave
up his image as a blustery leader of
shaggy-haired blond men of war.
(
~'~'~'~'~'~'
December 25, the date of the winter
solstice in tbe time of Julius Caesar.
How well the Church succeeded
in its campaign to make paganism
respectable can be judged only by
the fact that the same rnidwinter
greenery, merry-making and lights
of the Roman Saturnalia are now an
integral part of the most popular
Christian holiday.
In the fourth century, an addi–
tional and even greater church
stamp of approval was given to Sa–
turnalia observance when Decem–
ber 25 was officially proclaimed as
the birthdate of Christ. This was
convenient for the Christians; the
Saturnalia now became the Mass of
Christ.
But the change was in name only,
as the invading barbarians soon dis–
covere9. To the continuing chagrín
of the Church, the men from the
north were delighted to find in the
Roman Saturnalia/Mass of Christ a
very pleasant custom to com–
plement their own observance of the
winter solstice. A letter of the year
742 from St. Boniface, the "Apostle
to the Germans," to Pope Zacharias
complains that bis pious labors to
convert the pagan Germanic tribes
of the Franks and the Alemans were
being hindered by the wild obser–
vance of the winter festivals back
home. This prompted the Pope to
20
as types of holy birthday presents
rather than as pagan good luck to–
kens. As in past ages, the great win–
ter festival included long bouts of
eating and drinking and general
merriment.
The old Roman Saturnalia cus–
toms did not die out during this
time but were merely modified.
Rather than choosing a mock king
as the Romans bad done, medieval
Europeans chose a "Lord of
Misrule," an "Abbott of Unreason,"
a "King of the Bean" or a profane
pope whose duty was to preside
over the "Feast of the Fools." This
buffoon was made up like a bald–
headed, red-nosed clown and rode a
donkey. He often performed a kind
of slapstick mass in the cathedral.
The cathedral choir at Christmas
was equaHy ridiculous. The choir
members wore orange peels for
spectacle rims; they read their music
upside down and replied in gibber–
ish to the "bishop" reading the ser–
vice. In addition, they rang bells
and skipped and hopped through
the church.
The Christmas church services of
the Middle Ages still exist today,
but in quite modified form, a mere
token of their original ribald pagan
character. They make up only a
minor portion of the Christmas cus–
toms followed today - many of
An ever-changing mythology did
see to
it
that Odio developed a
mildness of character, even a truly
concerned benevolence toward
m
en.
Odin's new image mingled, in
time, with the garbled tales of the
personality of Jesus Christ. Those
tales slowly percolated into then–
pagan northern Europe. Many of
the tbings the tribes in that area
heard and thought they understood
about Jesus Christ were molded into
their concept of the god Odio. Even–
tually, the Odin myth took on not
only the confused characteristics of
a Jesus Christ, but of other legen–
dary persons as well.
Most notable of these mytholog–
ical blendings occurred when Odin
became known as Santa Claus,
or more accurately, St. Nicholas.
Almost nothing solidly factual
is known about the original Nicho–
las who was eventually called a
saint, but sorne records indicate that
he died in the year 326, the son of a
well- to-do Christian couple in a
province of Asia Minor.
St. Nicholas had a reputation,
among other things, for slipping
gifts into the homes of worthy
people in the dead of night, not
wanting anyone to know who was
doing such good deeds.
During the Middle Ages, the leg-
PLAIN TRUTH December 1973